The Sun Also Rises: Key Facts

The Sun Also Rises Key Facts

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Full title The Sun Also Rises

Author Ernest Hemingway

Type of work Novel

Genre Modernist novel; travelogue; novel of disillusionment

Language English

Time and place written Mid-1920s, Paris

Date of first publication 1926

Publisher Charles Scribner’s Sons

Narrator Jake Barnes

Point of view Jake tells the entire story from his own point of view.

Tone Somber, detached, ironic, nostalgic

Tense Past

Setting (time) 1924

Setting (place) The novel begins in Paris, France, moves to Pamplona, Spain, and concludes in Madrid, Spain.

Protagonist Jake

Major conflict Jake is in love with Lady Brett Ashley, but they cannot maintain a relationship because he was rendered impotent by a war wound. Jake loses numerous friendships and has his life repeatedly disrupted because of his loyalty to Brett, who has a destructive series of love affairs with other men.

Rising action Jake, Brett, and their friends pursue a dissipated life in Paris; Jake introduces Brett to Robert Cohn; Brett and Cohn have an affair; Cohn follows Brett to Pamplona.

Climax The jilted Cohn beats up Mike and Jake, and afterward Pedro Romero.

Falling action Jake and his friends leave Spain; Jake enjoys the solitude of San Sebastian; Brett wires Jake to rescue her in Madrid after forcing Romero to leave her.

Themes The aimlessness of the Lost Generation; male insecurity; the destructiveness of sex

Motifs The failure of communication; excessive drinking; false friendships

Symbols Bullfighting

Foreshadowing The behavior of the bulls repeatedly foreshadows the actions of the people in the novel.

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